Discussion

Your favorite good quality fish restaurant ?

I see Blue Water Seafood. Fish Market and Point Loma (which we have been to) mentioned alot on TA.. What would be your choice or is there another that might be fitting the bill that I didnt see.Early dinner on Saturday evening we are looking at with travelled children that no the restaurant drill :O) We are coming end of September so it would be a bonus if we could sit outside and eat and have a view or people watch.

It has to be within walking distance from Residence Inn near little Italy or within 5 mile radius as our hotel can shuttle us so we can enjoy some drinks leaving car behind.

The Fish Market Downtown is quite popular, right on San Diego Bay next to the aircraft carrier. I prefer to sit outside on the deck but that is a limited menu. Can be average to great (depending on what you order) and is very family friendly.

If you're coming in from traveling with tired children, Blue Water might work out well for you. It's close to your hotel, it's pretty casual and has a patio (tho' a patio with no view of anything). Be advised that unless we're having a Santa Ana, it can start to get chilly at the end of September in the evening. If you plan to be out much after the sun goes down, just throw a sweater or jacket in the car just in case.

Don't know exactly where Residence Inn is located, but we LOVE Blue Water Seafood and also really like Bay Park Fish Co, which is a little north on I-5. I imagine that it's within 5 miles, but not sure. It's a little bit more upscale (but not much and still is casual) than Blue Water with table service, etc. They make a yummy swordfish club sandwich with avocado.

My favorite thing at Blue Water are the grilled prawns. They're pricey, but delicious. I get them on a salad, and it winds up being $20. Order off the blackboard or the specials at the counter, skip the permanent plastic menu items. Fish tacos there are disappointing and not worth your time. Sandwiches are OK, but the bread is too dense, IMO. Salads or plates are where it's at here.

The patio at Blue Water is on the side of the building and abuts a parking lot. They've used a lot of bamboo and foilage to hide the view of the parking lot.

I don't totally agree with Josh about the bread on the sandwiches at Blue Water being too dens, tho' I understand his point. I think a lot depends upon what fish you chose to go on the sandwich. The last time I had a sandwich there, the bread was a ciabatta roll. I chose swordfish to go on it and it was great. Ciabatta tends to be a firmer bread so I think a firmer fleshed fish works better on it. I like their fish tacos, I also like their ceviche.

I wonder if they changed to ciabatta from the previous bread. They used to use a kind of fat french roll that was very dense, and I found it hard to eat. Ciabatta would be a nicer alternative for sure. El Pescador in La Jolla uses Telera rolls, and I like those a lot.

Last time we were there, a few weeks ago, we found the fish tacos disappointing - maybe it's too many visits to mariscos trucks. Their ceviche is very nice.

Assuming you can get to dinner before 6:30 PM, I'd recommend Pt. Loma Seafoods. While I prefer most of the items at Blue Water, that's not a knock on Pt. Loma Seafoods and both have very fresh fish. More important, based on your request, at Pt. Loma Seafoods you can sit outside along the San Diego Bay where the sport fishing boats load and unload. Around dinner time in September, you'll get to see the boats coming in and unloading the days catch and/or walk along the waterfront. Blue Water, for better or worse, has no particular visual/aesthetic appeal. For both, or any of the other recommendations, you'll have to take the hotel's shuttle.

Yes, Chula Vista is about a 30 minute drive with moderate traffic. If traffic is light, it will be quicker. The Palomar exit is about 6 exits from the Mexican border. The fish taco truck is in an industrial area with no view and no charm. It shares the parking lot with the torta ahogada truck. Both are definitely foodie destination as they both do essentially one product and do it really well. I don't know that I would call either of them tourist destinations, especially for tourists with kids, although there is definitely the fun factor of eating in the parking lot from a lunch truck.

Just loved Blue Water Seafood for sandwiches.. I wanted one last taste of SD before heading home so the hotel shuttle took me to pick up blue water sandwiches and a order of fish and chips for the kids to share..

Fish and chips they divided one regular order . They put together a plate for them each with huge portion of waffle fries. delicious coleslaw and 2 generous pieces of fish each! for $8 in total..

I had the recomendation from Chow to have the snapper chipotle with avocado fresh tomato and red onion with pepper jack cheese and blue cheese..I DIED AND WENT TO HEAVEN.. It was by far one of my favorite meals in SD... Others in group had the opa and the hawaian maui with garlic butter seasoning with the same toppings as myself. The buns were soft and light toasted and the whole sandwich was huge!! The fish was thick 3/4 of a inch and fresh.

3 sandwiches. 1 fish and chips all for $38.. We took it to the airport and enjoyed our feast there while waiting for a our plane.. )(2 hour delay ) but we had a good meal in us..

We also visited the Fish MARKET .. worst service in all of the restaurants we visited in 10 days and we visited lots... seafood chowder was thick but lacking flavour! others in the party liked their fish dishes. Ducket bucket was pretty good although alot of empty shells!!!!kids didnt even get their ice creams as they fell asleep at the table waiting for them with such sloooooooooooooow service..(and many empty tables at this time) had to keep waving my hands up to even get our waiter.. In fact he never came to get my order as i was undecided and the others ate their meal by the time i tracked him down. I ordered a chowder as he said he could have it out fast.. Never had drink refills. Waited 25 min to get a table and then while seated 20 min before anyone came to our table. Again had to track down waiter by waiving arms.

El Pescador's we revisited and it was a scrumptious sandwich but rich and more greasy and far smaller portion of fish then Blue water provided.

I don't recall anyone telling you to eat at the restaurant of the Fish Market..only the oyster bar, or the sushi bar.Food is different at the OBar vs. the restaurant.Empty shells from the Duckett's bucket means that the meat is usually at the bottom of the bucket..I've never seen them put in empty shells for steamers.I would let the GM of the Downtown Fish Market know your concerns..Sounds like you had a great trip in SD and we look forward to having you back soon!

There was not enough seats at oyster bar to accommodate us we sat around the corner from the hostess booth so we could see the water somewhat. Manager was informed and apologized profusely and took $45 off our bill and gave us his business card to take care if us next time,

Had to update this thread, just went to Marisco's Godoy for a few seafood plates and BONUS, they just began serving Pacifico's on draft and.... FREE Pacifico draft beers, they plunked down a 60 oz tube of their beer with glasses. Nice !! just added a great touch to an excellent meal.